The Sleeping Bard
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Ellis Wynne >> The Sleeping Bard
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However, (through the glass of my companion,) I could see one receiving
the bread into his belly, under the figure of a _mastiff_, another under
that of a _swine_, another like a _mole_, another like a _winged
serpent_, and a few, O how very few, receiving a ray of celestial light
with the bread and the wine. "Yonder," said he, "is a roundhead who is
about to become sheriff, and because the law enjoins, that every one
shall receive the communion in the church before he obtains the office,
he has come hither rather than lose it; but though there are many here
who rejoice at seeing him, there has been no joy amongst us for his
conversion, for he has only turned for the time; and thus you see how
bold Hypocrisy must be to present herself at the altar before Emmanuel,
who is not to be deceived. But however great she be in the city of
Perdition, she can effect nothing in the city of Emmanuel, above the wall
yonder."
Thereupon we turned our faces from the great city of Perdition, and went
up to the other little city. In going along I could see at the upper end
of the streets, many turning half-way from the temptations of the _gates
of Perdition_, and seeking for the _gate of Life_; but whether it was
that they failed to find it, or grew tired upon the way, I could not see
that any went through, except one sorrowful faced man, who ran forward
resolutely, while thousands on each side of him were calling him fool,
some scoffing him, others threatening, him and his friends laying hold
upon him, and entreating him not to take a step by which he would lose
the whole world at once. "I only lose," said he, "a very small portion
of it, and if I should lose the whole, pray what loss is it? For what is
there in the world so desirable, unless a man should desire deceit, and
violence, and misery, and wretchedness, giddiness and distraction.
_Contentment and tranquillity_," said he, "constitute the happiness of
man; but in your city there are no such things to be found. Because who
is there here content with his station? _Higher_, _higher_, is what
every one endeavours to be in the street of _Pride_; give, give us a
little more, says every one in the street of _Lucre_; sweet, sweet, pray
give me some more of it, is the cry of every one in the street of
_Pleasure_. And as for tranquillity, where is it? and who obtains it? If
you be a great man, flattery and envy are killing you; if you be poor,
every one is trampling upon and despising you; after having become an
inventor, if you exalt your head and seek for praise, you will be called
a boaster and a coxcomb; if you lead a godly life and resort to the
church and the altar, you will be called a hypocrite; if you do not, then
you are an infidel or a heretic; if you be merry, you will be called a
buffoon; if you are silent, you will be called a morose wretch; if you
follow honesty, you are nothing but a simple fool; if you go neat, you
are proud, if not, a swine; if you are smooth speaking, then you are
false, or a trifler without meaning; if you are rough, you are an
arrogant, disagreeable devil. Behold the world that you magnify," said
he, "pray take my share of it." Whereupon he shook himself loose from
them all, and away he went undauntedly to the narrow gate, and in spite
of every obstacle he pushed his way through, we following him; while many
men dressed in black upon the walls, on both sides of the gate, kept
inviting the man and praising him. "Who," said I, "are the men above
dressed in black?" "The watchmen of the king Emmanuel," replied the
angel, "who, in the name of their master, are inviting people and
assisting them through this gate."
By this time we were by the gate; it was very low and narrow, and mean in
comparison with the lower gates. On the two sides of the door were the
_ten commandments_; upon the first slab on the right side was written,
"_love the Lord with thy whole heart_, _&c._," and upon the second slab
on the other side, "love thy neighbour as thyself;" and above the whole,
"_love not the world nor the things which are therein_." I had not
looked long before the watchmen began to cry out to the men of Perdition,
"Flee! flee, for your lives!" Only a very few turned towards them once,
some of whom asked, "flee from what?" "From the prince of this world,
who reigns in the children of disobedience," said the watchman; "flee
from the pollutions which are in the world through the lusts of the
flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the vanities of life; flee from the
wrath which is coming to overwhelm you!" "What," exclaimed the other
watchman, "is your beloved city but a vast glowing roof cast over Hell,
and if you were here, you might see the fire on the farther side of your
walls kindling, to burn you down into Hell." Some mocked them, others
threatened to stone them unless they ceased their unmannerly prate; but
some few asked, "whither shall we fly?" "Hither," said the watchman,
"fly hither to your lawful king, who yet offers you pardon through us, if
you return to your obedience, and abandon the rebel Belial and his
deceitful daughters. Though their appearance is so splendid, it is only
deception; Belial at home is but a very poor prince, he has only you for
fuel, and only you as roast and boiled to gnaw, and you are never
sufficient, and there will never be an end to his hunger and your
torments. And who would serve such a malicious butcher, in a temporary
delirium here, and in eternal torments hereafter, who could obtain a life
of happiness under a king merciful and charitable to his subjects, who is
ever doing towards them the good offices of a shepherd, and endeavouring
to keep them from Belial, in order finally to give to each of them the
kingdom in the country of Light? O fools! will ye take the horrible
enemy whose throat is burning with thirst for your blood, instead of the
compassionate prince who has given his own blood to assist you?" But it
did not appear that these reasonings, which were sufficient to soften a
rock, proved of much advantage to them, and the principal cause of their
being so unsuccessful was, that not many had leisure to hear, the greater
part being employed in looking at the gates; and of those who did hear,
there were not many who heeded, and of those there were not many who long
remembered; some would not believe that it was Belial whom they were
serving, others could not conceive that yonder little, untrodden passage
was the gate of Life, and would not believe that the three other
glittering gates were delusion, the castle preventing them from seeing
their destruction till they rushed upon it.
At this moment there came a troop of people from the street of Pride, and
knocked at the gate with great confidence but they were all so
stiffnecked, that they could never go into a place so low, without
soiling their perriwigs and their plumes, so they walked back in great
ill humour. At the tail of these came a party from the street of Lucre.
Said one, "is this the gate of Life?" "Yea," replied the watchmen who
were above. "What is to be done," said he, "in order to pass through?"
"Read on each side of the door, and you will learn." The miser read the
ten commandments. "Who," he cried, "will say, that I have broken one of
these?" But on looking aloft and seeing, "_love not the world_, _nor the
things that are therein_," he started, and could not swallow that
difficult sentence. There was among them an envious pig-tail who turned
back on reading, "_love thy neighbour as thyself_;" and a perjurer, and a
slanderer turned abruptly back on reading, "_bear not false witness_;"
some physicians on reading, "_thou shalt commit no murder_," exclaimed
"this is no place for us." To be brief, every one saw there something
which troubled him, so they all went back to chew the cud. I may add,
that there was not one of these people, but had so many bags and writings
stuck about him, that he could never have gone through a place so narrow,
even if he had made the attempt.
Presently there came a drove from the street of Pleasure walking towards
the gate. "Please to inform us," said one to the watchman, "to what
place this road is leading?" "This is the road," said the watchman,
"which leads to eternal joy and happiness;" whereupon they all strove to
get through, but they failed, for some had too much belly for a place so
narrow; others were too weak to push, having been enfeebled by women, who
impeded them moreover with their foolish whims. "O," said the watchman
who was looking upon them, "it is of no use for you to attempt to go
through with your vain toys; you must leave your pots, and your dishes,
and your harlots, and all your other ware behind you, and then make
haste." "How should we live then?" said the fiddler, who would have been
through long ago, but for fear of breaking his instrument. "O," said the
watchman, "you must take the word of the king, for sending you whatsover
things may be for your advantage." "Hey, hey," said one, "_a bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush_;" and thereupon they all unanimously
turned back.
"Come through now," said the angel, and he drew me in, and the first
thing I saw in the porch was a large baptismal font, and by the side of
it a spring of saline water. "Why is this here at the entrance of the
road?" said I. "It is here," said the angel, "because every one must
wash himself therein, previous to obtaining honour in the palace of
Emmanuel; it is termed the _fountain of repentance_." Above I could see
written, "_this is the gate of the Lord_, &c." The porch and also the
street expanded, and became less difficult as one went forward. When we
had gone a little way up the street I could hear a soft voice behind me
saying, "_this is the road_, _walk in it_." The street was up-hill but
was very clean and straight, and though the houses were lower here than
in the city of _Perdition_, yet they were more pleasant. If there is
here less wealth, there is also less strife and care; if there are fewer
dishes, there are fewer diseases; if there is less noise, there is also
less sadness, and more pure joy. I was surprised at the calmness and the
delightful tranquillity that reigned here, so little resembling what I
had found below. Instead of swearing and cursing, buffoonery,
debauchery, and drunkenness; instead of pride and vanity, torpor in the
one corner, and riot in the other; instead of all the loud broiling, and
the boasting and bustling, and chattering, which were incessantly
stupifying a man yonder; and instead of the numberless constant evils to
be found below, you here saw sobriety, affability and cheerfulness, peace
and thankfulness, clemency, innocence, and content upon the face of every
body. No weeping here, except for the pollutions pervading the city of
the enemy; no hatred or anger, except against sin; and that same hatred
and anger against sin, always accompanied with a certainty of being able
to subdue it; no fear but of incensing the King, who was ever more ready
to forgive than be angry with his subjects; and here there was no sound
but of psalms of praise to the heavenly guardian.
By this time we had come in sight of a building superlatively beautiful.
O, how glorious it was! No one in the city of Perdition--neither the
Turk nor the Mogul, nor any of the others, possessed any thing equal to
it. "Behold the _Catholic Church_!" said the angel. "Is it here that
Emmanuel keeps his court?" said I. "Yes," he replied, "this is his only
terrestrial palace." "Has he any crowned heads under him?" said I. "A
few," was the answer. "There are your good queen Anne, and some princes
of Denmark and Germany, and a few of the other small princes." "What are
they," said I, "compared with those who are under Belial the Great? He
has emperors and kings without number." "Notwithstanding all this;" said
the angel, "not one of them can move a finger without the permission of
Emmanuel, nor Belial himself either, because Emmanuel is his lawful king;
Belial rebelled, and for his rebellion was made a captive, with
permission however to visit for a little time the city of Perdition, and
delude any one he could into his own rebellion and a share of his
punishment. So great is his malice, that he is continually using this
permission, though aware that by so doing he will only add to his own
misery; and so great is his love of wickedness, that he takes advantage
of his half liberty, to seek to destroy this city and this edifice,
though he has long known that their guardian is invincible."
"Pray, my lord," said I, "may we approach and take a more minute view of
this magnificent palace?" for my heart had warmed towards the place at
the first sight. "Certainly you may," said the angel, "because there I
have my place, charge, and employment." The nearer we went to it, the
more I wondered, seeing how lofty, strong, beautiful, pure, and lovely
every part of it was; how accurate was the workmanship, and how fair were
its materials. A rock wrought with immense labour, and of prodigious
strength was the foundation stone; living stones were placed upon this
rock, and were cemented in so admirable a manner, that it was impossible
for one stone to be so beautiful in another place, as it was in its own.
I could see one part of the _church_ which cast out a very fair and
remarkable cross, and the angel perceiving me gazing upon it asked me "if
I knew that part." I did not know what to answer. "That is the _Church
of England_," said he. These words made me observe it with more
attention than before, and on looking up I could perceive queen Anne, on
the pinnacle of the building, with a sword in each hand. With the one in
her left, which is called Justice, she preserves her subjects from the
men of the city of Perdition; and with the other in her right, which is
the sword of the Spirit, or the word of God, she preserves them from
Belial and his spiritual evils. Under the left sword were the _Laws of
England_; under the other was a large _Bible_. The sword of the Spirit
was fiery and of prodigious length, it would kill at a distance to which
the other sword could not reach. I observed the other princes with the
same arms, defending their portions of the church; but I could see that
the portion of my queen was the fairest, and that her arms were the most
bright. By her right hand, I could see a multitude of people in
black--archbishops, bishops, and teachers, assisting her in sustaining
the sword of the Spirit; and some of the soldiers and civil officers, and
a few, very few of the lawyers, supporting, along with her, the other
sword. I obtained permission to rest a little by one of the magnificent
doors, whither people were coming to obtain the dignity of the _universal
church_; a tall angel was keeping the door, and the church within side
was so vividly light, that it was useless for _Hypocrisy_ to show her
visage there--she sometimes appeared at the door, but never went in.
After I had been gazing about a quarter of an hour, there came a
_papist_, who imagined that the Pope possessed the catholic church, and
he claimed his share of dignity. "What proof of your dignity have you?"
said the porter. "I have plenty," said he, "of _traditions of the
fathers_, and _acts of the congresses of the church_; but what further
assurance do I need, than the word of the Pope, who sits upon the
infallible chair?" Then the porter proceeded to open an exceedingly
large Bible. "Behold," said he, "the only Statute Book which we use
here, prove your claim out of that, or depart;" whereupon he departed.
At this moment there came a drove of Quakers, who wanted to go in with
their hats upon their heads, but they were turned back for their
unmannerly behaviour. After that, some of the children of the barn, who
had been there for some time, began to speak. "We have," said they, "no
other statute than you, therefore show us our dignity." "Stay," said the
glittering porter, looking them fixedly in the face, "and I will show you
something. Do you see yonder," said he, "the rent which you made in the
church, that you might go out of it, without the slightest cause or
reason? and now, what do you want here? Go back to the narrow gate, wash
yourselves well in the fountain of repentance, in order to free
yourselves from some of the kingly blood, in which you steeped yourselves
formerly; bring some of that water to moisten the clay, to close up the
rent yonder, and then, and then only, you shall be welcome." But before
we had proceeded a rood farther towards the west, we heard a buzz amongst
the princes above, and every one, great and small, seized his arms, and
proceeded to harness himself as if for battle; and before we had time to
espy a place to flee to, the whole air became dark, and the city was more
deeply over-shadowed than during an eclipse; the thunder began to roar,
and the lightnings to dart forkedly, and a ceaseless shower of mortal
arrows, was directed from the gates below, against the catholic church;
and unless every one had had a shield in his hand to receive the fiery
darts, and unless the foundation stone had been too strong for any thing
to make an impression upon it, you would have seen the whole in
conflagration. But alas! this was but the prologue, or a foretaste of
what was to follow; for the darkness speedily became seven times blacker,
and _Belial_ himself appeared upon the densest cloud, and around him were
his choicest warriors, both terrestrial and infernal, to receive and
execute his will, on their particular sides. He had enjoined the Pope,
and the king of France, his other son, to destroy the church of England
and its queen; and the Turk and the Muscovite, to break to pieces the
other parts of the Church, and to slay the people; the queen and the
other princes, were by no means to be spared; and the Bible was to be
burned in spite of every thing. The first thing which the queen and the
other saints did, was to fall upon their knees, and complain of their
wrongs to the King of kings, in these words:--"_The spreading of his
wings covereth the extent of thy land_, _O Emmanuel_!" Isaiah 8. iii.
This complaint was answered by a voice, which said, "_resist the devil
and he will flee from you_;" and then ensued the hardest and most
stubborn engagement, which had ever been upon the earth. When the _sword
of the Spirit_ began to be waved, Belial and his infernal legions began
to retreat, and the Pope to falter. The king of France, it is true, held
out; yet even he nearly lost heart, for he saw the queen and her subjects
united and prosperous, whilst his own ships were sunk, his soldiers
slaughtered, and thousands of his subjects rebelling. The very Turk was
becoming as gentle as a lamb; but just at that moment my heavenly
associate quitted me, darting up towards the firmament, to myriads of
other shining powers, and my dream was at an end. Yes, just as the Pope
and the other terrestrial powers, were beginning to sneak away, and to
faint, and the potentates of hell to fall by tens of thousands, each
making, to my imagination's ear, as much noise as if a huge mountain had
been precipitated into the depths of the sea, my companion quitted me,
and there was an end of my dream; for what with the noise made by the
fiends, and the agitation which I felt at losing my companion, I awoke
from my sleep, and returned with the utmost reluctance to my sluggish
clod, thinking how noble and delightful it was to be a _free_ spirit, to
wander about in angelic company, quite secure, though seemingly in the
midst of peril. I had now nothing to console me, save the Muse, and she
being half angry, would do nothing more than bleat to me the following
strains.
The Perishing World.
O man, upon this building gaze,
The mansion of the human race,
The world terrestrial see!
Its architect's the King on high,
Who ne'er was born and ne'er will die--
The blest Divinity.
The world, its wall, its starlights all,
Its stores, where'er they lie,
Its wondrous brute variety,
Its reptiles, fish, and birds that fly,
And cannot number'd be,
The God above, to show his love,
Did give, O man, to thee.
For man, for man, whom he did plan,
God caus'd arise
This edifice,
Equal to heaven in all but size,
Beneath the sun so fair;
Then it he view'd, and that 'twas good
For man, he was aware.
Man only sought to know at first
Evil, and of the thing accursed
Obtain a sample small.
The sample grew a giantess,
'Tis easy from her size to guess
The whole her prey will fall.
Cellar and turret high,
Through hell's dark treachery,
Now reeling, rocking terribly,
In swooning pangs appear;
The orchards round, are only found
Vile sedge and weeds to bear;
The roof gives way, more, more each day,
The walls too, spite
Of all their might,
Have frightful cracks, down all their height,
Which coming ruin show;
The dragons tell, that danger fell,
Now lurks the house below.
O man! this building fair and proud,
From its foundation to the cloud,
Is all in dangerous plight;
Beneath thee quakes and shakes the ground;
'Tis all, e'en down to hell's profound,
A bog that scares the sight.
The sin man wrought, the deluge brought,
And without fail
A fiery gale,
Before which every thing shall quail,
His deeds shall waken now;
Worse evermore, till all is o'er,
Thy case, O world, shall grow.
There's one place free, yet, man for thee,
Where mercies reign,
A place to which thou may'st attain,
Seek there a residence to gain
Lest thou in caverns howl;
For save thou there shalt quick repair,
Woe to thy wretched soul!
Towards yon building turn your face!
Too strong by far is yonder place
To lose the victory.
'Tis better than the reeling world;
For all the ills by hell uphurl'd
It has a remedy.
Sublime it braves the wildest waves;
It is a refuge place
Impregnable to Belial's race,
With stones, emitting vivid rays,
Above its stately porch;
Itself, and those therein, compose
The universal church.
Though slaves of sin we long have been,
With faith sincere
We shall win pardon there;
Then in let's press, O, brethren dear,
And claim our dignity!
By doing so, we saints below
And saints on high shall be.
A Vision of Death in his Palace Below.
In one of the long, black, chilly nights of winter, when it was much
warmer in a kitchen of Glyn-cywarch, than on the summit of Cadair Idris,
and much more pleasant to be in a snug chamber, with a warm bed-fellow,
than in a shroud in the church yard, I was mussing upon some discourses
which had passed between me and a neighbour, upon _the shortness of human
life_, and how certain every one is of dying, and how uncertain as to the
time. Whilst thus engaged, having but newly laid my head down upon the
pillow, and being about half awake, I felt a great weight coming
stealthily upon me, from the crown of my head to my heel, so that I could
not stir a finger, nor any thing except my tongue, and beheld a lad upon
my breast, and a lass mounted upon his back. On looking sharply, I
guessed, from the warm smell which came from him, his clammy locks, and
his gummy eyes, that the lad must be _master Sleep_. "Pray, sir," said
I, squealing, "what have I done to you, that you bring that witch here to
suffocate me?" "Hush," said he, "it is only my sister _Nightmare_; we
are both going to visit our brother _Death_, and have need of a third,
and lest you should resist, we have come upon you without warning, as he
himself will sometime; therefore you must come, whether you will or not."
"Alas!" said I, "must I die?" "O no," said _Nightmare_; "we will spare
you this time." "But with your favour," said I, "your brother Death
never spared any one yet who was brought within reach of his dart; the
fellow even ventured to fling a fall with the Lord of Life himself,
though it is true he gained very little by his daring." At these words
_Nightmare_ arose full of wrath and departed. "Hey," said _Sleep_, "come
away, and you shall have no cause to repent of your journey." "Well,"
said I, "may there never be night to _saint Sleep_, and may _Nightmare_
never obtain any other place to crouch upon than the top of an awl,
unless you return me to where you found me." Then away he went with me,
over woods and precipices, over oceans and valleys, over castles and
towers, rivers and crags; and where did we descend, but by one of the
gates of the daughters of Belial, on the posterior side of the _city of
Perdition_, and I could there perceive, that the three gates of Perdition
contracted into one on the hinder side, and opened into the same place--a
place foggy, cold, and pestilential, replete with an unwholesome vapour,
and clouds, lowering and terrible. "Pray, sir," said I, "what dungeon of
a place is this?" "_The chambers of Death_," said _Sleep_. I had
scarcely time to enquire, before I heard some people crying, some
screaming, some groaning, some talking deliriously, some uttering
blasphemies in a feeble tone: others in great agony, as if about to give
up the ghost. Here and there one, after a mighty shout would become
silent, and then forthwith I could hear a key revolving in a lock; I
turned at the sound to look for the door, and by dint of long gazing, I
could see tens of thousands of doors, apparently far off though close by
my side notwithstanding. "Please to inform me, master Sleep," said I,
"to what place these doors open?" "They open," he replied, "into the
_land of Oblivion_, a vast country under the rule of my brother Death;
and the great wall here, is the limit of the immense eternity." As I
looked I could see a little death at each door, all with different arms,
and different names, though evidently they were all subjects of the same
king. Notwithstanding which, there was much contention between them
concerning the sick; for the one wished to snatch the sick through his
door, and the other would fain have him through his own. On drawing
near, we could see above every door, the name of the death written, who
kept it; and likewise by every door, hundreds of various things left
scattered about, denoting the haste of those who went through. Over one
door I could see _Famine_, though purses and full bags were lying on the
ground beside it, and boxes nailed up, standing near. "That," said he,
"is the gate of the _misers_." "To whom," said I, "do these rags
belong?" "Principally to misers," he replied; "but there are some there
belonging to lazy idlers, and to ballad singers, and to others, poor in
every thing, but spirit, who preferred starvation to begging." In the
next door was the death of the _Ruling Passion_, and parallel with it I
could hear many voices, as of men in the extremity of cold. By this door
were many books, some pots and flaggons, here and there a staff and a
walking stick, some compasses and charts, and shipping tackle. "This is
the road by which scholars go," said I. "Some scholars go by it," said
he, "solitary, helpless wretches, whose relations have stripped them of
their last article of raiment; but people of various other descriptions
go by it also. Those," said he, (speaking of the pots,) "are the relics
of jolly companions, whose feet are freezing under benches, whilst their
heads are boiling with drink and uproar; and the things yonder belong to
travellers of snowy mountains, and to traffickers in the North sea."
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